


When did this become so hard?!

by Sansan312



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Action, Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Comedy, Cuddling, Dreams, F/F, French Kissing, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Kissing, LEWD, Lazy Mornings, Slice of Life, Teasing, Wholesome, Yuri, references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24532966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sansan312/pseuds/Sansan312
Summary: after a certain incident involving entering the wrong room at the wrong time, and a serious talk, Miku will realize how little progress and affection she has shown for Hibiki as her lover, and try to better it.This story takes place after the events of Symphogear XV
Relationships: Akatsuki Kirika/Tsukuyomi Shirabe, Kohinata Miku/Tachibana Hibiki, Kohinata Miku/Tachibana Hibiki/Yukine Chris, Kohinata Miku/Yukine Chris
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	1. The incident

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first symphogear fanfic I make, and my second ever fanfic. I chose to give the Hibimiku relationship more of a comedic approach, and place the direct progress on zababa. On a side note, English is not my first language. 
> 
> Present note: Rewriting done 👍

It was an afternoon at the S.O.N.G facilities. At that time the wielders would practice their gear usage in the simulation room, either to create a new gear modification for a special threat or just to stay fit, which was luckily the case.

-"Shirabe!"

-"yes!"

Kirika threw the noise hologram away with her scythe's Sharpless side, shirabe received this signal and sliced the noise image in half.

-"nice dess~!"

-"kiri-chan, focus"

Kirika got her eyes off Shirabe's awesomeness and kept swinging her weapon from side to side, leaving nothing but red dust before her steps.

Shirabe kept tossing her yoyos around the room, slicing the noise around her with the sharp strings she swung with her hands.

Shirabe and Kirika looked at each other and nodded with the same thing in mind.

Shirabe fused both her yoyo's into a single monster truck spiked wheel and threw it straight to Kirika. Kirika put her scythe in front of her for the wheel to click with it at its tip, making an ultimately destructive weapon.

Shirabe let go of the strings to open the gear's extensions on her head, shooting out spinning saws where she aimed.

Kirika pulverized the remaining noise by spinning in place holding her combined weapon from its other end.

The scenario of an empty street faded as the metal walls revealed again.

-"good job, you two!"

Maria called them out from the other side of the room.

Tsubasa was right behind her.

-"you can go have lunch, we'll use the simulator now"

-"yes! Thank you both!"

Shirabe and Kirika transformed back, Shirabe proceeded to walk outside the simulator and wave at them both before leaving towards the cafeteria, Kirika headed outside the S.O.N.G Submarine to get the food she had ordered before she started training.

By the time Kirika arrived, Shirabe had gotten a milk box and a coffee can out of a bending machine, and She was already carrying them to their table.

When they saw each other they just smiled and sat down at a table next to each other.

-"Good job, Kiri-chan"

-"you too!"

They clinked their drinks before taking a sip.

As they ate their food, Kirika remembered something she had in mind, something that made her blush a bit, but she wanted to try.

-"h-hey, Shirabe?"

-"what is it?"

Kirika tightened her grip on her milk box and looked at Shirabe's drink.

-"wanna try making... You know..."

Shirabe stared.

"C-coffee with Milk... Dess?"

She stared harder.

-"jiiii~"

Kirika got nervous and started reconsidering her request before Shirabe answered.  
Shirabe now understood what she meant.

"No"

Kirika approached her.

-"oh come on dess!"

Shirabe crossed her arms and looked away.

-"Kiri-chan, No, that is disgusting"

Kirika felt those words cut through her soul like the blade of Shul Shagana.

"Besides, last time we tried it, we made a big mess, and we had to explain to Maria what happened"

-"It was one time dess!"

-"one time was enough for me"

Kirika's cheeks filled with anger as she looked at Shirabe with puppy dog eyes. She turned to her food again, annoyed.  
Shirabe didn't want to try what Kirika suggested, since there were better ways to mix drinks. But seeing her like that, she couldn't help but feel guilty for making her sad.

-"you know Kiri-chan..."

Kirika didn't answer, she wanted to hear Shirabe apologize, but she wasn't going to, at least not verbally.

"We don't have to make any weird tricks for it to work"

Confused, she turned to Shirabe, whose face was right in front of hers now.

Kirika stood up in a second, but Shirabe enclosed the distance there was between their faces.

-"S-Shira-"

She held her shoulders and gave a smug smile.

-"if you want to kiss me so badly... Just ask"

One second after finishing, Shirabe closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Kirika's.

Kirika was caught by surprise but followed and kept kissing her until she ran out of air.

-"Shi-"

After taking a tiny breath, Shirabe didn't stop as Kirika expected, not that she was that eager to anyway.

They both wrapped their arms around each other, and the sound of a door opening went unnoticed. That is until Kirika opened her eyes after some seconds.

"Shirabe!"

-"Kiri... Chan?"

Shirabe looked where Kirika pointed and felt a hard pound on her chest when she saw one of her friends, Miku Kohinata, standing motionless and surprised right at the door.

-"ah... Uhm..."

Miku's shock was hard to explain, she had absolutely no idea what to do, as her face froze in an expression that said nothing about her thoughts.

-"uhhh..."

Kirika stepped away from Shirabe, a bit of saliva was still dripping from her mouth down to her chest.

-"S...s..."

Miku's hand twitched with every sound she made.

"S-s-s-s sorry for the intrusion!"

Miku scram as she ran back through the door she had gone through while it closed behind her.

Shirabe and Kirika stared at the now closed door, both frozen in thoughtless silent panic.

-"You shouldn't have carried it for so long dess..."

Shirabe turned to Kirika, she couldn't talk back to her if she was right.

-"Should we go apologise?"

Kirika nodded.

-"But first, let's finish dess"

Shirabe blushed a bit.  
Kirika slowly did as well.

"The Food! Let's finish our food dess!"

Shirabe looked down and silently nodded before sitting back down, Kirika followed.

_______________

Miku ran down the halls with her hands on her red face, not knowing where she was going, just running away from what she had seen.  
That day Miku had gone to the S.O.N.G facility since she was called to start her former training as a wielder, She was looking for Hibiki, who she had thought would be at the cafeteria because of how she liked rice so much, but instead, she had found something that made her question her whole social relationship knowledge, as simple as it was.

-"(why were they kissing?! I mean I get they're very close but... No, no, they are totally lovers, how was I so blind? Still, that was... Really passionate... Wait, what am I thinking?! That was extremely lewd! I could almost see their tongues...)"

Miku kept running without any idea where to, but she slowed down as her thoughts ordered a bit.

"(Maybe I shouldn't have come in... I mean It's not like it's forbidden for them to do it... Sure they're a bit younger than I am, but they still get to do stuff like that even when I haven't done it with-)"

Miku stopped running and covered her mouth with a gasp, then she whispered to herself.

"I haven't done it with Hibiki..."

-"Hmm?"

Miku's heart stopped when she heard Hibiki's voice at the other end of the corridor and slowly turned to her. Hibiki had her S.O.N.G uniform on and was getting close to her while waving her arm.

"Hey, Miku!"

-"H-Hibiki?"

Miku's heartbeats kept speeding up more and more as Hibiki arrived next to her.

-"hm? Is something wrong? Your face is red..."

-"Ah- no, nope! It's nothing!"

Miku was sweating a bit, there was nothing to be afraid of, really, it was just her bestest friend and lover, Hibiki Tachibana, who was standing in front of her. No, it was her previous thoughts on what she had seen. She had never kissed Hibiki, and she was only thinking about it now, when Hibiki showed up.

-"hmmm... If you say so... You should go get a check if you're not feeling alright, if you don't feel like you can start your formal training now, that's okay! You don't have to-"

-"it's okay Hibiki, I'm fine"

Miku was acting like she usually would now, though some stuff was still in her head, she had to make it clear to Hibiki that she was alright.

"I'll go see Mister Kazanari now, wanna come?"

-"sorry Miku... I was on my way to the simulator... But if you want to I can-"

-"no, no, it's important for you to stay in shape, just go"

-"thanks Miku! Take care!"

Hibiki strolled down the halls making her way to the simulator. Miku just stood there, blushing over her own thoughts again.

-"(I've never kissed Hibiki... I'm her lover, and yet...)"

-"there you are!"

Kirika panted as she ran up to Miku, she kept her head down and stood with her hands on her knees when she reached her.

"Hey, *huff*, Miku..."

-"Kirika?"

Shirabe walked in casually

-"hey Miku"

-"Ummm...."

None of them knew how to start the conversation, so Kirika had to speak first as an exhaustion complaint.

-"*ahem*, _we_ want to apologize, you know... For-"

Miku interrupted as she had already thought of it.

-"oh no, don't worry, I completely understand... Ah! I mean it was my mistake for going in!"

Shirabe pat Kirika's back as she stepped in front of Miku.

-"Okay, I guess you would know, you and... You know"

Shirabe gave a pretty charming smile that read 'you know what I'm talking about'

"...your wife, probably make out every day"

-"Eh?!"

Kirika got up and backed Shirabe's point.

-"I bet they have fun with each other every day dess!"

Kirika started wrapping her arms around herself in a weird gesture.

"And I bet when the day is over... They both get into bed and-"

Shirabe covered Kirika's mouth with a tired look.

-"Kiri-chan, that's private stuff"

-"Budd idz tduu dethh!"

Shirabe sighed.

-"anyways, thanks for being so understanding, since you're the most experienced"

-"oh... Y-yeah... I am..."

Miku kept blushing, but it went unnoticed by the two kouhai buns.

-"welp, take care"

Shirabe put her hand off Kirika, who just walked away with her, naturally.

Miku waved at them walking away as she thought about it again.

-"... Experienced..."

_______________

-"So what you're saying is, you want to be closer to that idiot than you already are?"

-"yes, precisely"

Chris closed her eyes and leaned back on her seat.

-"but didn't you say that you were now lovers or something?"

Miku clenched her hands together.

-"well yes, we both confessed under the shooting stars we had promised to see years ago"

Chris opened her left eye.

-"you made it sound cool"

-"it was!"

Chris got her hands back on the table and annoyingly looked at Miku.

-"yet you both didn't kiss then?"

Miku felt like she was completely confident about her feelings on that memory, and she shared it with Chris, it was the reason for her visit.

-"Well actually, when we were there, it was enough of a moment for us, we finally knew that we loved each other more than ever, and we knew there wouldn't be anything in our way we couldn't-"

-"DID YOU KISS OR NOT?!"

Miku took a deep breath, widely opening her eyes and mouth, but her whole body dropped a bit as she sighed out a single word.

-"...no"

Chris slowly brought her palm to her face as she whined a bit about Miku's ridiculous justification for not making a move on Hibiki.

-"why don't you ever make any sort of-... Wait"

She remembered something Miku had mentioned once.

-"what?"

She looked up to her again.

-"you mentioned making a move on her for her birthday didn't you?"

-"eh? A move?"

Miku tilted her head to the side in confusion. Chris' hopes on Miku's known progress shattered into little pieces.  
She stopped being annoyed and started sounding actually mad.

-"you said y-ye-you wrapped yourself like a gift for her birthday once didn't you?!"

Miku got her head back a bit.

-"um, yeah?"

-"so what happened then?!"

She got her hands on her cup of tea again.

-"well, I expected her with no clothes and a ribbon and some red tape wrapped around my body..."

-"yes?"

Miku realized how embarrassing and wrong that sounded said out loud, but she kept going.

-"and then when she arrived and I said... The thing..."

-"yes?!"

Chris began getting excited, maybe something had happened and Miku just didn't know yet.

-"...and then she got worried and started asking me if I was stuck in the tape... Turns out I was, hehe"

Chris' excitement wiped off her face in an instant.  
Miku grabbed her Cheeks as she drooled a bit.

"And so she said sweet stuff like 'you don't have to do this for me' and 'having you by my side is the most precious gift you could give me', and then she took a bath with me and-"

-"Okay, stop"

Chris' face was held by her hands again.

"That took a lame turn"

Miku put her hands down.

-"Sorry..."

Chris's voice kept being muffled since she didn't feel like getting her hands off her face.

-"Look, it's okay if you don't want to make a move... But if you want to be closer to her, you'll have to do something"

Miku took a sip out of her tea and sighed.

-"I know, and I _do_ want to be closer to Hibiki"

Chris looked up at Miku again, her eyes looked like they had been sleep deprived for about a week.

-"then you better do something, because that idiot isn't going to do anything, I tell you that"

Miku's face became serious as she had made her final decision to achieve something.

-"I will!"

If someone asked her, she would deny it, but Chris smiled a bit when she saw Miku's enthusiasm.

-"welp, I'm not the one you should be talking to"

-"eh?"

Chris got her head up and sat straight, she sipped her tea and kept talking.

-"I have less experience than you do, you should probably ask senpai or somethin', I can't give you any more advice"

Miku was bummed because of that, but now she finally knew what she wanted, so she just stood up and walked up next to Chris.

"hm? What are-"

Miku gently snatched Chris's hands and held them between them.

"Hya!"

-"thank you so much, Chris! You helped me a lot!"

Chris's face slowly became more and more reddish, then she looked away.

-"I-I didn't do anything, y-you moron!"

Miku snickered.

-"Well then, I'll be going now, Hibiki must be waiting for me!"

Miku skipped her way to the door and put her shoes on before she opened it.

"Goodbye!"

-"ah-"

Miku closed the door behind her, and Chris heard as her steps faded through the hallway and down the stairs.

Chris shook a bit, but sat back down and finished her tea.

"That idiot better give her the best..."

Chris picked up the dishes and carried them to her sink.  
She looked outside the window as she thought about it again.

"... She deserves it"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't get a beta reader until last chapter. Sorry!


	2. Uncomfortable

Miku was on her way home. Having past a bunch of fast food places and convenience stores, she wondered if Hibiki would want her to get her something to eat, when she asked herself what was Hibiki's favorite food, she blushed a bit when she remembered Hibiki saying 'Miku's food is always the best!' even though her favorite food was just rice. Miku constantly tried to improve her cooking to make Hibiki taste more and more of her food, since she had been advised by her grandmother 'the easiest way to the heart is through the stomach' but it was like Hibiki always enjoyed her food as much as she could, which she liked to see. Still, Miku wished she could see more of her.

Miku figured out Hibiki wouldn't want anything, they were going to eat dinner around that time anyway, so it would be better to not get stuffed before that.

-"(it'll just be another day, I'll try my best at this! We're already lovers, so it shouldn't be too bad!)"

Is what she thought before entering her home.

"I'm home! (Geez, feels kinda weird to be the one to say that)"

She didn't hear anything coming from inside, she just stood there, and eventually stepped inside.

"Hibiki?"

Even after looking around for some seconds and realizing there were no longer any books from school on their table, Hibiki was no where to be seen.

Only then did Miku hear the water splash that came from further inside their house, followed by a door creeking and Hibiki peeking from it.

-"hey~, welcome home Miku!"

-"ah! Hibiki?!"

-"yeah?"

Hibiki stepped out of the bathroom and stared at Miku, who felt a bit flustered, but knew that even though what she was looking at she had seen every day, it was still embarrassing.

-"H-Hibiki... You're..."

-"hm? Oh yeah! Sorry about that!"

Hibiki stepped inside the bathroom again. Some seconds later she came out wearing a towel, but at least now she was wearing something.

"Wanna come in? The water's just fine... I think"

-"um... sure"

Miku got used to the situation, she was just embarrassed because of an immediate thought that came to her mind after seeing Hibiki completely naked _outside_ their bath.

After taking her clothes off, Miku entered the bathtub with Hibiki already in it, what she had said was true, the water was warm enough, as always. Miku relaxed a bit after a day full of thoughts and concerns.

Hibiki relaxed as well, and with her eyes closed and back leaned, she asked Miku with a slightly sleepy voice.

-"Hey..."

-"...yeah?"

-"What did you visit Chris for?"

Miku opened her eyes again, not panicking but feeling slightly uncomfortable.

-"... Stuff"

Hibiki opened her eyes in concern, she looked back at Miku.

-"don't wanna talk about it now, do you?"

Miku sincerely shook her head.

-"(what am I doing? I just want to be closer to her... Why am I hiding it? Why is it so embarrassing to think of?)"

Miku gasped as she noticed Hibiki's warm body gently hug hers.  
Hibiki smiled since she thought she understood what was happening.

-"that's okay... Remember you can tell me anything when you're ready"

-"Hibiki..."

Miku hugged her back, making it look like what she was hiding was serious, and it was to her, it's just that Hibiki thought it had something to do with her bad memories about Shem-ha, or the Shen Shou Jing or something, however, the outcome would be the same: she wouldn't bother Miku _too much_ about it.

-"ok then!"

Hibiki stood up, now there was a bunch of steam covering her.

"Shall we head for dinner now?"

Miku sunk her face a bit more underwater.

-"as in me making dinner?"

-"ehehe... Yes"

Hibiki scratched the back of her head with an innocent smile.

Miku smiled back and stood up as well.

-"it's okay, you know I love cooking for you"

-"And you know I love you!"

Miku looked away in embarrassment.

-"...dummy" 

______________

-"I thought you had finished!" 

-"I did finish!... Most of it!" 

Miku shook her head disappointedly. 

-"you're supposed to finish all of it, not just most!" 

-"Mikuu~" 

Miku sat back down and pushed Hibiki's book under her. 

-"come on now, you said you did most of it, you just have to do what's remaining now" 

Hibiki's long, lazy face looked down on the remaining tasks of her homework and decided it was worth doing. 

Meanwhile, Miku started preparing dinner, cheering for Hibiki to be responsible, if that was ever going to happen. To think someone with a job that went from clearing a bunch of noise to literally punching god wouldn't be able to complete her homework without complaining, truly a weird girl, but then again, Miku was even weirder for being her couple. 

"... Couple..." 

-"did you say something?" 

Hibiki didn't hear her over the sound of the frying pan in the kitchen.

-"n-nothing (right, progress! I'll try as soon as she finishes her homework!)" 

And eventually, Miku served their food once Hibiki finished. 

-"let's eat!" 

Hibiki quickly stuffed her face with rice and steak looking like she was in a hurry, but looking again, Miku realized she was just enjoying the food a lot. 

-"Hibiki! Slow down or you'll choke! Chew! At least chew!" 

-"can't-chew-food-too-good!" 

Somehow, she managed to wipe multiple bowls clean without choking on rice. 

"ahh~ I'm stuffed!"

Miku was still eating while looking at Hibiki, who was now laying on the ground with her arms spread.

-"you know, sometimes I wonder how you manage to stay in such shape when you eat so much..."

Hibiki sat up and clenched her fist up in the air.

-"for every grain of rice, there's a noise I pulverize daily!"

Miku started laughing.

-"you know there are, like, millions of grains of rice per bowl right?"

-"eh?! Really?!"

Miku kept laughing, Hibiki smiled when she saw her like that, she had an adorable laugh.

"Hehe, I guess I have to kill more noise then!"

-"you sure do"

Miku stood up and picked up the dishes there were left on the table.

-"you need help with that?"

Hibiki asked.

-"Nah, I'm fine, you can just watch TV for a bit if you want"

Miku said as she walked up to the sink.

-"Okay... If you say so"

As Miku washed the dishes and placed them in the dryer, Hibiki started switching from channel to channel on the couch.

After Miku finished, she realized Hibiki's unhealthy layed down position. Apparently she was already sleeping, or at least snoring.

"You'll wake up with cramps if you sleep like that..."

Miku said to herself before sliding her arms under Hibiki's knees and back, when she looked behind her, she realized the TV was still on. Hibiki had been changing channels until she eventually gave up on being awake and closed her eyes, the show that was currently airing was going through a weird scene.

She saw a young tanned girl pinning another childish-looking girl to the wall on the rooftop of what looked like a school building. The girl whispered into the other girl's ear.

-" _you act like a perfect student..._ _But_ _the truth is you're full of curiosity..."_

Miku's cheeks turned red.

-"(H-Hibiki was just scrambling through channels, so how did she end up here?)"

Miku kept watching despite the image this reminded her of.

-" _you're interested in_ _learning_ _dirty things, aren't you?"_

Miku stood up, she hadn't thought this was that kind of show, it just looked like it would be cute girls doing cute stuff from the kitchen, not _those_ sort of things.

She rushed to find the remote while the lines kept going.

The last thing she saw was the tanned girl pinning the little girl's hands to the wall and drawing her face close to hers. But before she saw anything else, she just turned off the TV.

She breathed heavily with her face red and her shoulders shaking. This reminded her of the events that had happened earlier that day.

-"(oh no... I didn't do anything... Did I, Chris?)"

She thought as she imagined an image of Chris nagging her above her head, saying _"yassai_ _mossai_ _!_ _Yassai_ _mossai_ _!"_ Over and over again.

Miku looked back at Hibiki.

-"what if..."

~~~~~~~~~~

-" _Miku, you've been wanting to do this all along, haven't you?"_

_-"no... That's- ah!... not true..."_

_-"hm?_ _But_ _you're voice is so_ _lewd_ _..."_

_-"Hibiki... Stop..."_

_-"do you really want me to stop?_ _You're_ _gonna tell me you're not feeling good as well?"_

_-"Hibi..._ _Ki_ _... Ah..."_

_~~~~~~~~~~_

-"WAAHHHH!"

-"MIKU?!" 

Hibiki stood up in a second and pulled out her pendant on instinct while looking around, wearing her most serious face possible. 

"What's wrong?! Are you hurt?!" 

Miku was just shaking her head violently and covering her eyes. 

Hibiki held her shoulders, and Miku looked at her. 

"Are you okay?!" 

-"Hibiki..." 

Hibiki was what Miku least and most wanted to see at that moment, making her not know how to answer.  
Hibiki put Miku's hands away and held her face with hers. 

-"Miku?!" 

Miku pulled herself together, she didn't want to make Hibiki worried, but she didn't want to say why she was screaming either way.

-"I'm... I'm fine..." 

Hibiki's face went from worried to sad, and she kept holding Miku's blushed face. 

-"you sure? You were screaming just now... Why is your face red?" 

Miku felt her face boiling, now her delusion wasn't the thing causing her the discomfort. Hibiki was holding her cheeks, and it looked like the perfect scene for a kiss... But she just couldn't, and she didn't know why. 

"... Miku?" 

-"I'm alright, everything is just fine!" 

She said happily smiling with lies.  
Hibiki didn't know how to react, Miku was using her phrase again, and she didn't look okay, but if she wanted her to think she was okay, then it was probably for the better. 

-"is it...?" 

-"Hibiki, I wouldn't lie to you!" 

Miku wrapped her arms around Hibiki, laying her head on her shoulder and closing her eyes.  
Hibiki hugged her back by gently embracing her from her back.

"...(I'm a coward...) Let's just go to sleep, we'll talk about this in the early morning, 'kay?"

_______________

-"Alright, good night!" 

-"Good night, Hibiki" 

Hibiki closed her eyes, starting to drift off and almost snoring again, Miku tried to close her eyes when she remembered something embarrassing that had just happened some minutes ago.

"... (Dirty things... Would Hibiki...?)" 

In self-awareness, Miku contained herself from screaming out loud again. 

"(No, no, NO! Adults do that sort of thing!) ..." 

Miku turned over to look at a calendar hanging on the wall.

  
2nd of September, 2046. 

"(... She'll be 19 soon.... No, wait, NO! Pull yourself together! You have to make progress first!)" 

Miku turned to look at Hibiki again. 

"Progress..." 

Hibiki looked so peaceful when she was asleep, she would usually turn her head up and start snoring, but now she was heading towards Miku and softly breathing, she looked really cute for her.

"Progress..." 

Miku swallowed. The night was so silent it was almost terrifying, and she was pretty sure Hibiki could hear her heartbeats, but it didn't matter, she had to do something she had decided to do when she visited Chris. 

"(Progress! Progress! Progress!)" 

Miku started making her way to Hibiki's lips, getting ready, even when she was going to take the lead now. 

"(Hibiki! I-)" 

-"Luv... yu"

-"eh?" 

Hibiki laid her whole body on Miku's, without opening her eyes or leaving her peaceful face. 

"Hi-Hibiki?"

-"Miku... I love you... You're so warm... I love being with you... so much" 

Hibiki sounded sleepy-drunk, like most times she held Miku's hand from behind, but this was the first time she had done this. 

-"Hibiki..."

Hibiki's voice cleared up a bit more as she started interlacing her arms behind Miku. 

-"I can tell somethin' bothering my little sunshine... I can tell you want me to do this... I think..." 

And before Miku realized, Hibiki was snoring again. 

-"... You dolt" 

Miku somehow felt warmer than usual, it wasn't exactly hot that day, but somehow having Hibiki's sleeping motionless body on top of her helped her sleep better.

_______________

Miku was outside, relaxing in the warm sun that was brought down on her while she was laying down on her bench, with the golden ground around her and the moving tides in front, she smiled knowing nothing bad would happen. 

This belief didn't last long, the sunshine was covered with stormy clouds that brought the wrath of the sky down on Miku, forming a giant woman-like goddess with a deep voice.

-"I will unite the world under my chaotic storm!" 

The goddess said.

-"no, I won't allow that!" 

Is the only thing Miku heard before the giant cloud-formed goddess was purged by a bright light that shone through the clouds and slowly fell down into a giant oyster Miku hadn't noticed. 

With the curiosity of a dream character that somehow takes the situation casually, Miku walked up to the oyster and opened it to find a beautiful blonde girl, with short hair and red hairpins on each side of her head, a decently developed body, covered by nothing more than some seashells, and a fishtail from her waist downwards. 

-"Hibiki?" 

-"I'm home, Miku" 

Miku felt nothing but happiness as the mermaid pounced on her. 

Miku just saw Hibiki's charming smiling face before she eventually realized she was on a weird stereotypical dream and blinked into the real world, where she felt as if her chest was being crushed by an anvil. Hibiki had been laying stiff on top of her the whole night.  
Miku spoke in a tired tone. 

-"Hibiki... Get off me" 

-"... Sorry, got too comfy" 

Hibiki slid off to the other side of the bed. 

-"Hey, Hibiki" 

-"yup?" 

-"I had a dream about you as a sexy mermaid"

-"good for you..." 

-"yeah..." 

Hibiki opened her eyes harshly as she came back to her senses and sat up. 

-"Wait, a sexy mermaid?!" 

-"mermaid... Pirate... Magical girl... I don't even remember what I said anymore..."

-"well I heard you!" 

Miku sat up with her eyes still closed and her hair messy. 

"Mikuu~" 

She teased her.

-"what?" 

-"Could it be that..." 

Hibiki crawled closer to Miku. 

"...you think I'm sexy?"

Miku got back to her senses as abruptly as Hibiki. 

-"eh?!" 

Hibiki burst out laughing as she fell on her back and waved her legs in the air. 

-"Hahahaha! I'm just joking!" 

Miku pouted. 

-"Whatever, I'll just go make breakfast for now" 

Miku started getting down the ladder of their bed. 

-"yup, thanks love" 

Hibiki crawled up to Miku's face and briefly kissed her forehead. Miku quickly blushed at this but kept going even after she did that.

Hibiki realized what she did, and started blushing as well, she crawled up to the corner of the bed and shoved her face into a pillow to scream the same muffled sound Miku would scream while covering her mouth.

-"Embarrassiiiing!" 

Miku had started brushing her teeth as Hibiki smelled the pillow she had just scram into. 

-"... Smells like Miku..." 

Hibiki took one more deep sniff. 

"... Nice" 

Miku sneezed. 

-"(what the? Is someone saying stuff about me?)" 

Miku heard Hibiki's footsteps approaching and saw in the mirror how Hibiki stood behind her and sniffed her hair. 

"Eh? What are you-?"

-"you smell nice..." 

Miku blushed a bit, she had heard this a bunch of times in the past already, every time Hibiki mentioned it, enough time had passed for it to be embarrassing again. 

-"...thanks"


	3. Partners

While eating breakfast, Miku remembered she'd talk about her 'secret' that morning, but seeing how Hibiki never brought it up, she supposed she had forgotten it over the rough position they woke up in, it was better _and_ worse for her to keep her attempts of progress a secret. She figured out she wanted the progress to happen naturally, and not forcefully, if she told Hibiki she wanted to kiss her, she'd definitely do it without any trouble, but it would count as some sort of task and would feel fake.

The whole school day passed by like nothing, there wasn't anything interesting to mention at least, except for the minor detail that Miku planned hanging out with Hibiki at Flower, but nothing else, nothing too serious or special.

They went back to their home and dressed up accordingly, they were just going to go out for a bit, but Miku told Hibiki to ready up anyway, and she didn't hesitate.

When they were walking down the stairs and approaching the exit, Hibiki turned at Miku and smiled casually.

-"Miku, is it okay if I invite someone else?"

Miku's idea of that day was to spend an afternoon with Hibiki alone so she felt comfortable enough to make direct progress, so she wasn't expecting anyone else, yet she didn't want to sound mean.

-"I mean, I was planning on spending time together alone, but..."

-"oh... Should I cancel then?"

-"cancel?"

-"hehe..."

Hibiki started sweating  
Miku got the idea.  
Hibiki felt like a selfish idiot then, she should have asked Miku before she invited anyone else. She knew by Miku's betrayed-like minor facial ticks that she was trying not to sound mean, that's why she thought a fully angry Miku was terrifying no matter how you looked at it.

Miku's eye twitched a bit. This was supposed to be their day, the weekend was just starting, and with the luck of not having homework, Hibiki ruined it in a way, but she couldn't be mad, that was just what Hibiki liked to do: hang out with friends.  
Miku sighed and went back to her sweet smile.

-"it's okay Hibiki, just try to ask earlier next time, okay?"

Hibiki felt her heart being squeezed.

-"Miku!"

She jumped onto her like she usually did with Chris, but unlike Chris, Miku didn't try to break free.

"I don't deserve you!"

Miku gently pat Hibiki's head, it was all alright, it surely wasn't a big deal anyway.

Miku looked so cute and kind Hibiki just felt like she wanted to smush her with her big golden amalgam fists, but she would never do that.

-"come on now, they're probably waiting for us aren't they?"

_______________

-"heeyyy! Over here!" 

-"yes!"

Hibiki waved her arm up in the air as she walked up to her friends.

"Hey, girls!"

Hibiki looked around and realized only three out of five invited friends were present.

"Where are Tsubasa and Maria?"

Chris rolled her eyes.

-"they said they had to stay in the simulator because..."

She waved her arms in a strange mocking way.

"Centinels, and swords, and serenades and stuff"

Hibiki chuckled.

-"classic!"

-"Yeah, yeah"

-"where do we go first?"

Said Shirabe, purposely getting into the conversation and indirectly trying to drag Kirika in as well.

"Can we go to flower?"

-"Sounds good to me dess!"

-"Alright then, let's head there first"

And so they started their afternoon together.

_______________

-"I'm not kidding, they call me like that!" 

-"that's cool!" 

-"I know it should be, but I just feel... Unrecognized" 

Hibiki smiled and pat Chris's back. 

-"Aww, Chris wants to be known" 

Chris blushed and frowned. 

-"Shut up!" 

Hibiki's voice progressively got lovelier. 

-"maybe we could talk to Tsubasa? We could make you a popular idol, Chris!" 

-"I said Shut up!" 

Kirika backed up the idea of Chris being on a bigger stage. 

-"and then the name of 'the red singing hood' will be Senpai's dess!" 

Shirabe stared into her food. 

-"that would be plagiarism, Kiri-chan" 

Chris was still bothered a bit, but she got used to the conversation. 

-"Besides, I think there is already an idol named like that" 

-"We could still ask Ogawa, you're a pretty good singer, Chris" 

Said Miku, somehow making Chris embarrassed even though she didn't like the idea.  
Chris took another bite off her okonomiyaki and annoyingly stared into the void. 

-"Thanks..." 

Everyone had a small gasp before they all smiled at Chris with their hearts warmed.

"What?!"

-"nothing"

Said Hibiki.  
Everyone laughed before they went back to their food, except for Hibiki, who had already finished minutes ago.

After having gone through a shopping center where Shirabe bought a dress that drew tiny hearts on Kirika's eyes and visiting an arcade full of shooting games that only Chris could play decently, Hibiki decided to go into a Photobooth with Kirika alone. And while they were inside deciding what poses and filters to use, Miku, outside of the booth, noticed a strong observing energy coming from both directions.

-"um..."

-"jiiii~"

-"hmmm~"

Miku looked from side to side, feeling Chris and Shirabe's cold stare.

-"i-is something wrong?"

They both sighed at the same time.

-"progress"

-"progress"

-"progress?"

Shirabe stared again as Chris facepalmed.

-"Nothing changed did it?"

Miku remembered how she had shared her thoughts with Chris and eventually came to the conclusion she told Shirabe as well.

-"oh that? Yeah well..."

Miku scratched her head as she tried to come up with a good excuse for Chris to not nag her again.

"Oh! She kissed me on my forehead earlier today!"

She said as she pointed at that spot.

-"She?"

Said Shirabe, saving Chris the annoyance of saying it herself.  
Miku stood confused for a second and put her finger on her chin when she got the message.

-"oh... Was I supposed to do it instead?"

Chris almost yelled.

-"of course you were supposed to!"

Chris took some steps closer.

"As I can see you haven't told her about this directly have you?"

Miku shook her head, confidently this time.  
Chris turned around and looked at the center full of people having fun together, assuming there should have been at least one other couple there, at least one example of a couple that was more successful, besides the two small kouhais of Zababa, of course.

-"I guess it would be fake progress if you made it on purpose"

Added Shirabe.

-"yes, exactly"

-"We're done! (Dess!)"

Everyone got startled when they heard Hibiki get out of the booth along with Kirika, both ready to keep having fun around the shopping center.  
Hibiki walked some steps further than everyone else, making it clear to Miku that she was having a lot of fun, which made her happy, but on the other hand, Chris took the opportunity to talk to her in a low tone.

-"it will be her birthday soon, if you can't do it earlier, that would be the perfect chance"

Shirabe took the same Chance.

-"We won't rush you right now, but you should at least try"

Miku nodded, but then noticed something out of place. 

-"wait, you actually remember Hibiki's birthday?" 

Miku whispered. 

-"wh- no I- shut up!" 

Chris whisper-yelled, making Miku laugh in a low tone as well.  
They enjoyed the remaining time they had for the day, with the miracle of not having any alca-noise appear anywhere, they were able to have a good day off, that is, if Chris enjoys yelling at Hibiki for almost breaking her own neck for the sake of bringing a cat down a tree. 

_______________

Miku stared at the ceiling, along with her thoughts. Ever since she had seen those two kouhais making out she always had something to think about. Hibiki was snoring right next to her, still smiling even when asleep, but Miku couldn't appreciate her beauty, for now, she didn't know what to think of anymore, things like "birthday", "progress", "experience", "chance". 

Miku turned around and saw Hibiki again. 

-"... Hibiki?" 

She said, indirectly wanting to talk to herself.

Surprisingly, Hibiki responded without moving or leaving her usual sleepy voice that always said sweet things. 

-"yesh?"

Miku thought of how aware Hibiki was, even when she was half asleep, kind of like a dolphin putting half of its brain to rest so it can keep moving. 

-"... I love you" 

-"I love you too... My little sunshine" 

Miku stood still and silent until she realized Hibiki was snoring again. 

-"... You're the sunshine... Silly" 

Miku whispered to herself. 

She stared at the ceiling again, not daring to do anything, she didn't want to force herself to do something she probably didn't want to do, she wanted to make progress with Hibiki, but after so much, she didn't even know what that meant. 

Acknowledging she wouldn't fall asleep so easily, she decided to get down the bunk bed and prepare some tea to relax, she didn't make enough noise to wake Hibiki up, which was a relief for her.

She walked out to the balcony, gazing upon the million stars up in the sky, thinking of everything that had happened since she met Hibiki. Becoming her friend, meeting new people that she didn't consider adversaries, Miku becoming the home Hibiki always wanted to return to...

"(... I never apologized for inviting her to that concert...)"

Miku's invitation resulted in Hibiki almost dying but ending up becoming a symphogear wielder instead.

"(... But I guess it was good in the long run)..."

Miku took a sip out of her tea, looking down on the empty street.   
She remembered the worst moments she had gone through, she had hurt Hibiki many times for a false cause, even if it was mostly against her will, she kept feeling guilty.

 _you_ _saved_ _me, Miku!_

"..."

Miku took out the pendant she had saved in her pocket and looked at her reflection in the red crystal.

"... I saved you?"

_Miku is my little sunshine! She's the warmest place I know!_

"You work all day saving people... And yet you have time for me..."

Miku despised not being able to help Hibiki, having to stay at home, just waiting even when she knew everything would be fine. That was the reason she was starting her former training as the wielder of the shen shou jing, but she still smiled every time she thought of Hibiki's smile when she returned home.

 _I'm_ _home, Miku_

Miku chuckled.

"I don't deserve you..."

While heading back into her home, now with her head clear enough to sleep, she saw her own shadow over a sudden spark of light behind her.

"Eh?!"

She turned around and left her empty mug on the table to run to the balcony again. She looked down to see what she never expected to see at that hour, and at that place. The sound that assimilated to bouncing was infuriating for her while scary to the people remaining in the street, what shone right below her on the streets, was the most common yet destructive enemy of a wielder: the alca-noise.

-"Help! Help me please!"

A young girl scram at the other end of the street, while the alca-noise made their way towards her.

Miku turned around.

-"Hibi-!"

But she stopped herself, Hibiki was asleep, and the only sound breaking through the dark of the night were the screams of a civilian in danger. Even if she woke up then, she wouldn't be on time.

Time was running out and the screams blinded Miku's thoughts, making her think of the fastest way to put an end to this mess.

Miku got up on the concrete railing of the balcony and held her pendant tight on her chest, still nervous, but determined to fight as well as Hibiki always did. Miku took a deep breath before leaning to slowly fall forward to what seemed like certain death, but certainly wasn't.

"(Hibiki, I'll fight as well!)"

-"eh?!"

The young girl turned to Miku as she fell off the balcony.

 **_-"Rei_ ** **_shen_ ** **_shou_ ** **_jing_ ** **_rei_ ** **_zizzl_ ** **_"_ **

When Miku landed, the Music was already resonating in the dark of the night.

-"W-wha... You're one of those-"

-"Run!"

Miku claimed as she pulled her weapon off the modules on her legs.

The girl ran away off sight, and the alca-noise started walking towards Miku, who had already pulled off at least six floating silver mirrors.  
When suddenly, Miku felt a big weight on her whole body, like a weight was attached to her from every place possible.

"(Right, I didn't take any LiNKER, I have to take care of this quickly)"

Miku started singing as she waved around her mirrors in the air, leaving red dust with every shot and swing of her wand, taking out the alca-noise even when her whole body was falling over the weight of the gear.

"Gh-!"

Miku fell on her knees, exhausted from all the fighting, yet she got up again to keep getting rid of all the monsters surrounding her, one by one, until she left nothing but ashes.

Miku breathed heavily when the street was clear, her gear was still on and sparkling with purple thunder, feeling each shock like a pinch on her muscles.

"at least I got rid of all of them... And Hibiki is still sleeping..."

Is what she thought out loud while looking up at the stars again, before she heard more light screeches coming from each side of the road, followed by more alca-noise with different figures and colors each.

"No... Please"

The Alca-noise approached more and more with each struggle. Miku managed to at least stand up without breaking her gear, creeking the metal together before she couldn't handle the pain.

"Hibiki, Help me!"

 **_-"Balwisyal_ ** **_nescell_ ** **_gungnir_ ** **_tron_ ** **_"_ **

And Miku heard the sound of absolutely awesome bagpipes coming from above before Hibiki landed on the Alca-noise, clearing them out in a single stomp, then charging her fist and using the impulse of a punch in the air to clear the noise that were on the other side.

-"Hibiki...?"

Hibiki's back was heading Miku, all Hibiki did was put her hand on her headgear, responding with things like "yes", "understood" and finally "thank you"

Hibiki turned around and walked up to Miku without saying a single word until she crouched to give her a hand.

-"come on, get up"

Miku unequipped her gear and barely lifted her head to see Hibiki's hand in front, the hand she held every day, the warm hand capable of uniting the whole world to get back the future that was stolen from them.

"... Miku?"

Miku snapped out of her overthinking.

-"oh! Yeah"

Miku held Hibiki's hand tight, she was feeling a bit dizzy, but she could still think and see straight enough to know Hibiki wasn't mad at her for doing such a reckless thing, instead, when she got up Hibiki immediately stepped back and stared at her, seemingly terrified by whatever it was she was seeing, something Miku didn't see or feel yet.

"Is something wrong, Hibiki?"

Hibiki put both her hands over her mouth, showing anxiety and shaking her head.

-"Miku... You..."

Miku started feeling her face being covered in a cold flow that went from her eyes all the way to her chin, making some drops of blood hit the ground between her feet.  
Miku only realized she was bleeding after she touched her face and saw the tip of her finger, making the drawback of the gear usage without LiNKER clear.

Hibiki pulled out her phone, turning it on and unlocking it as fast as possible, she stuttered to find what to say to calm Miku down.

"I-i'll call the h-hospital"

But Miku was already calm, this had happened a bunch of times before, the blood would be serious if it was on a larger amount, but now it wasn't that much, so Miku knew she was going to be fine if she just rested a bit, but Hibiki didn't.

-"Wait, Hibiki"

-"Miku, you're hurt! I-i have to-"

Miku held down Hibiki's arm and looked at her directly in the eyes, not before clearing the blood off her face with her sleeve, since she knew how disturbing it was to have someone speaking to you with blood dribbling from their face.

-"Hibiki, I'll be fine, this has happened before"

-"b-but..."

Miku smiled.

-"it's not a climax song or anything, just relax"

Hibiki shook a bit before clearing off her tears, she put down her phone and back into her pocket.

"If you want, I can have Elfnein run a test on me tomorro-"

And then Miku felt how Hibiki jumped on her and hugged her tightly, showing her how worried she was.  
Miku hugged her back and heard a bit of sobs on her shoulder.

-"... Don't do reckless stuff like that again... Please"

-"Hibiki, you do reckless stuff every day"

Hibiki held her tighter.

-"w-well... yes but... I don't want you to be in danger"

Hibiki got away from Miku and looked at her, worried about something that was already over.

"Next time wake me up, okay?"

-"Okay!"

Miku pat Hibiki's back a bit, and Hibiki transformed back as she wiped the few tears she had in her eyes.

As they walked back into their house, Hibiki felt good knowing Miku was at least safe now. Miku, on the other hand, was internally screaming and blushing while she helped Hibiki limp her way to their bed.

"(She's so cute! She never shows being worried this much... Is it because she's sleepy?) Alright, just lay down here"

Hibiki laid down on the lower bed they normally used for storage, it was empty for now, they had organized their stuff the previous days, and kept it clear in case someone stood over for the night, which never really happened.

Hibiki rubbed her eyes as Miku tucked her into the sheets.

-"thank you Miku... You have saved me again~"

-"don't even mention it (so cute!)"

There was an awful absolute silence while Hibiki placed herself comfortable enough to fall asleep instantly.  
Miku could only smile when she saw her, she would sleep on the bed above, since Hibiki placed herself widely in that bed, and she couldn't get in without annoying her, she looked so cute Miku felt like she would have a heart attack if she looked at her snore any longer, or maybe it was just the drawback from the Shen Shou jing.

"Good night, my dear"

Miku turned around and realized how the snores stopped, that was the only thing she thought about before her leg was snatched and she fell to the ground, almost hitting her face but standing on her hands just in time.

-"nghh..."

-"H-Hibiki?"

Miku felt getting dragged into bed violently, Hibiki placed and hugged her like a plushie, hugging meaning wrapping every single limb of her body around her.  
Miku's heart was about to explode, Hibiki wasn't on her senses, and now she was being _way_ closer than usual.

-"Mi... Magh... Miguu~"

-"haah-"

Miku covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming in absolute excitement and embarrassment.

"(What's with this situation?! What do I do now?! Am I supposed to fall asleep like this?! Hibiki looks too cute!)"

-"Mi... Sun... Warm..."

Miku's nose revealed a pinch of blood, but it wasn't from the gear usage, surely.

-"H-Hibi-"

Miku looked at Hibiki's face, her whole heartbeat slowed down at how peaceful she looked, it was like the face of an angel sleeping on a cloud.  
Hibiki's lips looked so soft Miku didn't know what to think anymore, "there's something I've been wanting to tell you", "Miku", "beef stroganoff", "progress", "I love you", "yassai mossai" and "experience" were some of the unintelligible sounds echoing in her head at that very moment, but after the wave of thoughts storming through her mind stopped, she could only make one thing out of all of it.

"(Hibiki...)... I love you"

_______________

-"Alright girls, you deserve a little break now!" 

Genjuro said, clapping his hands. 

Chris fell dead on the floor and was the only one there to not yell "yes!" 

Miku walked up to a nearby bench and sat down to Drink some water she had packed for that day's training, since Hibiki was still back at HQ, Chris sat with her instead, she had something to ask her.

-"so *huff* any progress yet or are you still waiting?" 

Chris was constantly getting her head up, never finding the strength to stop her heavy breathing or to keep it up for More than five seconds. 

Miku giggled a bit without looking at her. 

-"well... I kissed her on the lips last night in bed, if that's what you want to hear.. hehe..." 

Chris immediately stood up and looked at her with a sudden feeling of concerned excitement. 

-"in the lips?! Last night?!" 

Shirabe peeked from the other bench along with Kirika. 

-"i-in..." 

-"bed... Dess?" 

Genjuro got a bit interested and looked over his shoulder from afar. 

Chris's eyes turned into little stars as she pursued Miku to elaborate. 

-"umm... Well..." 

Miku blushed a bit, it got everyone more excited, expecting her to say something like "ahhh it's too embarrassing to talk about you guys!" Or "let's just say we both felt as good", but the truth was way further... Disappointing. 

"It was for one second, and she was sleeping when I did it..." 

Everyone sighed at the same time, Chris froze in place with an excited smile that only showed a feeling that was now dead.

Miku noticed the loss of interest and sped up to talk. 

"B-but it still counts as progress right?" 

Chris blew up. 

-"WHY DID YOU PHRASE IT LIKE THAT?!"


	4. Date

-"Why do you always come to my place for advice?"

-"Because you always give the best!"

-"didn't I tell you to ask Senpai about this?"

Miku looked away.

-"it's not that..."

Chris raised an eyebrow.

-"Ahn? Then what?"

She said, purposely using a tone that resembled a yakuza chief.  
Miku looked back at her, still ashamed of herself.

-"it's her gift. I don't know what to gift her"

-"eh...?"

There was a heavy silence with a very uncomfortable stare between the two girls, neither of them knowing what to say next.

"Her... Gift?"

-"yes..."

A tiny drop of sweat went down Chris's face before she kept speaking, luckily not raising her voice this time.

-"but... Wouldn't you know about that more than anyone?"

Miku stood up, suddenly getting both her hands down on the table, this time she was the one to slightly raise her voice.

-"the thing is, I don't know how to top what I gave her last year! I already gave her a huge mountain of rice, I already gifted myself, and last year I filled our room with rose petals and spelled her name in fireworks..."

Said Miku Shaking her head from side to side.  
Chris didn't move, she sat through Miku's rant on herself with a plain expression that could only mean "ok".

-"(oh... So she did do that last year...)"

Miku kept going.

-"So now I don't know what to give her! I thought I could organize a night parade with her as the theme..."

-"(what the hell?)"

-"But I don't have that much money! I don't know what else I could do!"

Miku let out a sigh after she was done rushing through her feelings and slowly sat down again, keeping her head down. Chris tried to look at her by leaning down on the table.

-"don't you think you're trying too hard?"

Miku laid her head on the table, and it sort of sank on it like a round potato.

-"it's Hibiki... Nothing is too much"

Chris placed her elbows on the table as well.

-"(these two... They care too much for each other, I mean if I was on that idiot's place I wouldn-)"

She widely opened her eyes.

"Wait... Do you really think she wants that from you?"

Miku looked up without taking her head off the table.

-"hm? What do you mean?"

-"last time the rice castle fell over, she told you that your feelings were enough of a gift for her, didn't she? Don't you think she doesn't want you to try so hard either?"

She said while avoiding direct eye contact.

-"yeah but..."

Miku was starting to see Chris' point, but just wasn't about Hibiki wanting it or not, she just wanted to make her happy.

"I just want to repay her for what being next to her is worth... I feel like I never pay back the joy she brings me, so..."

-"Agh! Stop it!"

Claimed Chris after slamming the table.

Miku got a bit startled as Chris pointed at Miku with what seemed like piled-up hate, the "this hurts to watch" kind.

"You have to stop being so blind!"

-"what?"

Chris scratched her head nervously and kept pointing at her, now yelling.

-"do you really think you don't make her happy?! You're everything she ever talks about!"

Chris put on a dumb-looking smile.

"Miku is always looking after me! Miku is my sunshine! I love Miku! Miku is waiting for me!"

She said in a mocking voice, after that she raised both of her arms in the air.

"You're such..."

She brought them down on the table, making everything on it bounce for a second.

"AN IDIOT!"

Miku stepped back. She couldn't see it clearly since she was away from the table, but she thought she had seen a little sparkle reflected beneath Chris' eye.

She had gotten something from all of this, she wasn't aware of it, but Chris was right, Hibiki was always happy for a reason, and Miku just didn't want to give herself the credit.

Chris wiped her eyes as Miku sat back down.

-"... I'm sorry"

-"no, it's... *Sniff*... It's okay"

Chris looked back at her with a dead serious look that was almost scary.

"I have an idea for what you could gift her"

-"really?" 

-"yeah"

-"tell me!"

Chris cleared her throat so the one time she said it Miku would understand.

-"a date"

Miku tilted her head sideways and frowned as she didn't quite get what Chris was saying, since Miku went on dates with Hibiki every time they had the chance to do so.

"But we go on dates-"

-"Not just any date, you dumbass"

Chris got her head up and closed her eyes thinking about possibilities for some seconds.

"You know, a fancy date, with big restaurants, amusement parks, theaters..."

And then she stopped, to stare at Miku directly into her soul.

"And the _final_ _progress_ I have planned for the end"

-"final progress?"

-"you still haven't done anything since you told me about it"

Miku waved her hand, denying the fact that things had stayed the same.

-"but I already kissed-"

Chris couldn't stand Miku's miserable excuse for a kiss, so she didn't let her go any further.

-"that doesn't count, She has to be awake!"

-"I... Guess that makes sense, but what do you have planned for the end?"

Chris didn't know if she should laugh or be embarrassed about the idea she thought seemed logical up to then.

-"you'll see... I guess"

Miku was somewhat excited but mostly confused, either way, she already knew she would probably have a good time on that date she was already looking forward to.

-"wait... I'm not sure if I can afford such a date..."

Chris got up, turned away, and started curling her hair around her index finger.

-"well... I don't usually use all the money I get from S.O.N.G so I guess I could..."

Miku widely opened her eyes before she jumped into Chris the same way Hibiki usually did, except now Chris didn't get away.

-"Chris! Thank you! You're the best!"

After Chris stopped struggling, realizing she wouldn't let go, she just looked away and pouted.

-"it's just so you stop being such a coward about making a move!"

Miku giggled.

-"Yup!"

_______________

  
After a long day of work, Hibiki finally began her way home, thinking about Miku saying "welcome back" as she always did already had her smiling and trying to get home as soon as possible. She walked through the streets, getting greetings from random strangers she saw around who were congratulating her for her birthday, which she had forgotten about. She didn't think it'd be that important, but when she thought about it, she didn't know what would be waiting for her back home.

-"(will Miku lay flowers all around the room and show me fireworks spelling my name again...? Why does she try so hard?)"

Hibiki looked down on her footsteps as she kept being lost in thought.

"(She always tries to make me happy... But I owe her so much... Should I tell her to stop gifting me stuff?) Eh?!"

Hibiki stopped on her footsteps over a sudden chill this idea caused her.

"(Well... She'd feel bad if I did that...)"

Hibiki snapped her fingers.

"(Wait, that's it! I can tell her she's a gift I still can't repay her for and she'll understand what I mean, surely!)..."

Hibiki's shoulders fell.

"..."

 _Well,_ _Hibiki..._ _I'm_ _all yours_... _So you can d_ _o_ _what you-_

"Ah!"

When she came back to her senses, she felt how hot her face was.

"(Did I reject that? No, I didn't reject it, I... She was stuck in that tape and so I... Wait...)"

She covered her face feeling like she was so dense she hadn't gotten the bigger picture up until then.

"(What did she have in mind when she did that?!)"

Miku's voice saying "I'm all yours" echoed in Hibiki's head while she kept walking home, looking down at every step she took, making sure to not hit anything on the way.

When she arrived home, she was kind of scared to open the door, she was already scared to look at the balcony from outside the building. What would Miku do now? It was a weird feeling, like she wanted to get something, but not something too great, she just didn't want her little sunshine to try too hard, but she didn't want to break her heart, so she just took a deep breath, and opened the door.

The sound of confetti cannons banging and colorful papers flying around the room amazed her so much she almost forgot to announce she was home. Not that it would make a lot of difference, Everyone already knew she was there. But it felt good to do so.

-"Happy birthday (dess)!"

-"Aww, you girls..."

As far as Hibiki saw, everyone was there, there was a huge colorful sign hanged from the ceiling that wished her a Happy birthday again, along with some tiger doodles and a table full of gifts on the other side of the room. Something was bothering her though, looking around the room, she couldn't Miku or Chris.

-"they said they would talk about something, I think. They should be back any second now!"

Answered Tsubasa, after being asked about those two girls, who later on came in casually.

-"I'm home!"

-"Miku!"

Hibiki jumped on Miku, who gladly hugged her back while Chris stepped back in disgust.

_______________

-"A punching bag?"

-"and it's made so it looks like an Alca-noise" 

Added Shirabe.  
Kirika didn't know how to explain how she thought that was a good gift.

-"I mean, you gifted me a dancing pole on my last birthday so..." 

Hibiki just smiled. It was elaborate and overall cool-looking, so she never really thought it was bad, she was just surprised by it since almost all the gifts were things she expected from each girl, like a dress coming from Maria, an action figure from Tsubasa and nothing from Chris so far. 

-"I love it!" 

-"you do?" 

-"of course! I'll ask Master to put it up in the training sessions right away!" 

The smile coming from the two tiny blades of Zababa was so adorable it could have given Hibiki diabetes. 

After being done with that gift, she realized she no longer had any presents left, on the table, yet she hadn't gotten one from Miku. She thought that not getting a present from her was good in concept. Due to how much effort went into them, she didn't want Miku to push herself, but now she just felt kind of weird, she wasn't really mad at her, just partially sad but relieved she hadn't gone too far this time. 

-"(maybe that's what she talked about with Chris...) Wait, where's Miku?"

After Hibiki asked this, everyone exchanged looks and gave each other a smug smile or nodded, they all simultaneously looked back at Hibiki, who was now somewhat scared at this unexpected coordination.  
Maria was the one to answer her question. 

-"She's over there, she'll be ready in a minute" 

She said, as she pointed at the closed curtain of the lower bed of the couples bunk, where Miku's silhouette could be seen dressing up. 

-"in the meantime..." 

Said Shirabe, looking at Hibiki with a murderous gaze. When Hibiki looked around her she realized everyone had the same ominous expression and was getting closer to her, which made her feel like she was being assaulted by a pack of wolves. 

-"umm... Girls?" 

Chris was the one to speak, as expected by everyone. 

-"you better get ready" 

-"ready? For what?" 

Everyone sighed at the same time, even Miku, who overheard the conversation behind the curtains. 

-"you girls are going on a date, okay?" 

Hibiki didn't understand why they seemed so serious about something that common. 

-"alll...right? So then we should all get ready!" 

Chris gave up. She left the rest of the explanation to her senpai. 

-"Tachibana, it's just going to be you and her" 

-"eh? But why?" 

Nobody knew how to answer that. Everyone knew Miku didn't want to tell Hibiki she wanted to "progress" with her, but Miku knew exactly how to answer, so she peeked from inside the curtains. 

-"it's going to be your present, Hibiki"

Hibiki understood, and she was getting excited to see the gift Miku had prepared for her, even if it wasn't as big as her previous ones, it was coming from Miku, and that was enough for her.

_______________

-"Well, we're heading off!" 

-"Have fun, you two!" 

They both walked away while Hibiki was still waving at the friends she was leaving behind. Miku felt nervous since she didn't know where Chris' plan would take them throughout their date. 

-"(since... Since when was holding Hibiki's hand so embarrassing?!)"

Hibiki walked along, humming a certain melody as Miku looked at the directions in the notes Chris gave her. 

"(Calm down! It shouldn't be that bad right? It should be just like that time Hibiki invited me out to that fun amusement park, right?)" 

When suddenly, Hibiki stopped humming to behold the long purple dress Miku was wearing. 

-"you look beautiful, Miku!" 

The girl let out a flustered whimper. 

-"(what's with this girl?!) T...thanks Hibiki..." 

Hibiki kept looking forward. 

-"where are we heading first? Flower?" 

-"You heard Chris, we have to go to... 'fancy' places" 

Said Miku, while forming quotation marks with her fingers. 

"like..." 

Miku stopped walking and turned to her side, pointing at a Huge glowing sign reading "Big Brother's Barbecue" in italics. 

"Here!" 

Hibiki stared at the entrance. 

-"is it really okay to eat here?" 

Miku took another look at the notes Chris gave her. 

-"it says here Chris already booked a reservation for us..." 

They remained quiet until, for the first time, Miku took the first step forward. 

"Let's head in, Hibiki" 

And so the pre-ordered menu was two dishes of steak with rice and fish, and eight bowls of steak-flavored rice. 

The date went on from one place to another, from a flashy amusement park to a tiny parade, passing by a view of fireworks Kirika and Shirabe set up, until eventually, Miku reached the bottom of the list, which read "get to this address when you're done, tell customer service your names and they will tell you where to go" with a winky face doodle Kirika made next. 

They both had smiles on their faces as they headed down the street the note referred to. 

-"what do you think this will be?" 

Miku had forgotten everything related to the word "progress" and was now acting as casually and sweetly as usual. 

-"I don't know Hibiki, but I had a lot of fun tonight!" 

Miku looked up in the sky and felt as if a million stars wished her good luck for what she was about to face. 

"It's a shame this is the last stop, I wish we could do this every day"

-"This was one of the best gifts I've ever gotten, thanks a lot, Miku!" 

Miku smiled at her as she realized they were already at their destination. 

-"This should be it" 

Hibiki's smile suddenly turned nervous as sweat kept going down her forehead. 

-"is... Is this...?" 

Miku walked inside without looking at the sign of the establishment. While talking to customer service she started getting nervous as she realized what Chris meant by the "final progress" 

-"is... Is this...?"

Already inside their room, they both looked around and saw multiple pink lights, a little night table with a drawer and a touchscreen sealed to the wall that had a bunch of cosplay purchase options. They gazed at each other, confirming their concerns at the same time.

-"... A _love hotel_?!"

_______________

-"What?!" 

-"yup, they never get a room, so I got them one" 

Tsubasa blushed and kept panicking as Chris remained confident. 

-"No, no! they're too young!" 

Chris leaned back in her chair. 

-"to be fair, the idiot's nineteen now, and the other one has been eighteen for a while" 

She moved her chair back down on Tsubasa's command. 

"Not to mention..." 

She looked over Tsubasa's shoulder and saw Maria nagging the two perverted blades of Zababa. 

"SOME KOUHAIS CONFESSED TO HAVE ALREADY DONE IT SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE, AND AGREED TO SEND THEM THERE" 

-"that doesn't mean it's right!" 

Yelled Maria from the other side of the room. 

Tsubasa hid her face by sinking it in her hands, letting out a muffled complaint. 

-"Why did you choose that as progress?" 

-"they clearly won't do anything if I don't intervene!" 

-"and by 'intervene' you mean morally forcing them to do it?" 

-"hey! they were pretty much 'morally' obligated to do it a long time ago, let's not pretend we don't know that"

_______________

They were still frozen at the entrance of the room. 

-"... What do we do now? Do we leave?" 

Miku grabbed Hibiki's wrist and dragged her to the huge bed placed in the center of the room. 

"Miku?!" 

They both sat down, Miku kept her head down while keeping her hands on her thighs, and blushed so brightly Hibiki could tell, even with the lights. 

-"Hibiki... There's something I've been wanting to tell you"

Hibiki hadn't been so confused in her whole life.

-"um, sure, what is it?"

Miku was very anxious to talk about it, but she knew she couldn't hide it any longer.

-"what I've been talking about with Chris was... Progress"

-"Progress?"

Miku was getting a bit tired of hearing that word, but she had to bear with it since Hibiki had no idea what it meant to her.

-"Hibiki, have you noticed that we have never kissed?"

-"what?"

Hibiki jumped back and blushed.

-"that sort of progress, I didn't want to tell you because I wanted it to happen naturally, but it never did..."

Miku's voice started cracking, and her tears were notorious when they fell on her clenched hands.

"I wanted to be closer to you... Hibiki... But I never managed to-"

Miku felt Hibiki's warmth, one she was so familiar with, she fell on her back over the bed and felt Hibiki's tight grip around her arms.

-"I'm sorry, Miku"

-"w-what? Why are you... Apologizing?"

-"Miku, I didn't do any of that because..."

Hibiki lifted herself and looked down on Miku, pinned to the bed with some tears still on her face.

"... I didn't know if you wanted to..."

-"Hibiki..."

Miku's sensation was strange. Was something that dumb preventing her from being closer to Hibiki? After struggling to make progress, all she had to do was tell her? Was she that blind?

-"so then... If you want to, I can..."

Miku suddenly got up and hugged Hibiki back, sitting up on the bed and pushing herself on her girlfriend's body, pressing her lips against Hibiki's very confidently, as if she had already done it ten thousand times before and she went for the ten-thousandth first, Hibiki naturally followed, not getting too passionate or calm, to simply enjoy the best of that moment before it finished.

-"... That felt good"

Hibiki smiled, Miku's sadness was gone, even if she didn't fully understand what Miku had told her, she had this now.

-"... Yeah"

The beautiful moment grew silent and awkward. As they slowly remembered where they were and what that implied, their faces started glowing red, and they could no longer hold each other. 

Hibiki stood up. 

"S-so... What do we do now?" 

Miku looked around the room. 

She crouched to open the drawer in the night table, and immediately slammed it closed the second she noticed what was inside. 

"Um, what was that?"

-"Nothing, don't look in here, it has... Lewd... stuff" 

Hibiki understood what she meant by that, and turned away embarrassed. 

-"O- *ahem*, Oh look! It's a cosplay catalog!" 

Miku rushed to Hibiki's side and saw the wide variety of costumes they had available for their budget.  
As Miku browsed from page to page on the touchscreen, Hibiki looked her a teasing smile from the side of her eye. 

-"do you think they've got a _mermaid_ costume?" 

-"shut up!" 

Hibiki laughed and let herself fall on the bed behind her.

-"hey what do you know? This bed is actually really comfy..." 

Hibiki sunk a bit more in the sheets until she saw Miku smiling at her from above. 

-"Hey Hibiki~"

-"what?"

_______________

-"Hibiki, say the line" 

-"(why is it so embarrassing to say it now?!) I'm... I'm home... Miku" 

Miku clapped while she chuckled. 

-"Perfect! Just as I saw it in my dream!" 

Hibiki quickly threw away the bright blue scale-covered pants she was wearing, ending up with only her underwear on. Turns out there was a "sexy mermaid" costume.  
She curled up in a ball and turned around. 

-"can't we just go to sleep already?" 

Miku's smile faded. 

-"(Hibiki's so cute... She never shows this side of her... I'm the only one that sees her like this...)" 

Hibiki looked over her shoulder. 

-"Miku?" 

Miku's inner thoughts and feelings agreed on something, and she finally wasn't embarrassed or ashamed of herself anymore. She knew what she was going to do, and it was no longer because she felt obligated to, it was because she wanted to. 

"Wah?!"

Suddenly, Miku jumped on the bed and embraced Hibiki from behind, taking her by surprise. She still hadn't said a single word. 

"Mi... Miku? Is something-" 

And all of a sudden, Hibiki felt Miku's grasp on her breasts along with the soft kiss she was dragging through her neck. 

"A-Ah... Miku?" 

-"is it okay with you?" 

She softly whispered into her ear

Hibiki let out a small moan, she felt so sensitive, the only one who could do something that pretty and yet that inappropriate to her was right there, showing herself fearless and sure of what she wanted. She let out a single word that lead the rest of the night. 

-"... Yes" 

_______________

Miku was received outside her house by Chris standing on a wall, probably looking after her home while she was gone. 

-"morning, so how was it? Where's that idiot?" 

Miku smiled and walked past her. 

-"Good morning Chris. You should probably ask me about this kind of stuff before you plan it!" 

Miku stood at the entrance and waited for her girlfriend to arrive.  
Chris spoke as she looked around the street.

-"Okay, but... Did you do it or-" 

Her heart stopped and her jaw fell when she saw Hibiki at the other end of the street. Her hair was messy, her eyes looked tired, her back was slightly curved, one of the straps of her bra was still loose, falling to the side of her arm, and you could tell she was heavily breathing miles away. 

Finally, Hibiki arrived next to Chris. Instead of jumping on her like she usually did, she just gave a tired smile and slightly raised her hand to make something of a greeting.

-"Good.... morning *pant*... Chris"

Chris was impressed by how sweaty Hibiki was. It looked as if she had just run a marathon.

-"um... Yeah... Morning" 

-"Let's head inside, Hibiki~" 

-"yes *pant*... Honey..." 

Chris's eyes opened wide. 

-"(Honey?!)" 

Hibiki walked inside, and before Miku closed the door behind her, she winked at Chris and whispered. 

-"Thank you"


End file.
